Heritage Society fundraiser looks to past, future

Doug "River Banks" Hutchinson of Damascus demonstrates his shot during a cowboy action shooting competition at Damascus Heritage Day Sunday, which was held at the Izaak Walton League Wildlife Achievement Chapter in Mount Airy.

The Carbonell children of Damascus were a little disappointed to learn that a turkey shoot did not mean shooting at turkey-shaped targets, but they were happy to get a lesson in shooting air rifles at balloons.

"It was a little hard, the gun was heavy," Molly Carbonell, 9, said as her brother Alex, 7, waited his turn for a lesson in shooting a pellet pistol.

Air rifle lessons were one of many activities at Damascus Heritage Day, held Sunday at the Izaak Walton League Wildlife Achievement Center in Mount Airy.

Other activities included a turkey shoot with adults shooting shotguns at targets to win a frozen turkey stored safely in a cooler by the rifle range.

"These are the best kind of turkeys; we have no feathers to pick up," John Lefebvre of Damascus, said.

It turns out that even in the olden days a turkey shoot did not mean shooting at a real turkey.

"Historically, Americans used to shoot for turkey or beef back in the colonial days," Joel Gross of Silver Spring, the range master, said.

Information about early American history fit perfectly into a day celebrating the history of Damascus.

As community members wandered the grounds they could also see a blacksmith demonstration, an antique tractor display and the original Damascus Volunteer Fire Department fire truck sitting next to its larger, more modern replacement.

"That's our first pumper, purchased in 1945 when the company was formed," Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Chief Darron Long said. "That served the community until 1972."

Exhibits provided information about community organizations and local craftspeople displayed their wares for sale.

Harvey Zeigler, 88, a lifetime Damascus resident, was scheduled to speak on African American life in Damascus, but instead sat in the audience while his daughter, Rose Zeigler, of Bowie, spoke.

"There were quite a few [African American] families by the 1920s; they contributed a lot of services — midwives, carpenters – George Lyles was a carpenter and the barber for both races," she said.

Harvey Zeigler spent his professional career working for the federal government and became active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

"Damascus was mean and lean," Harvey Zeigler said. "You couldn't go to the movies or the doctor's office. You had to go around back."

Rose Zeigler considers herself a benefactor of her father's activism.

"I integrated Damascus Elementary School in 1957 when Montgomery County made a commitment to integrate the schools," she said.

Another longtime resident who spoke during the afternoon was Bernardine Gladhill Beall, 71, who lives in Mount Airy on property her husband's family has owned since 1754.

Beall's father, Buck Gladhill, was a founding member of the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department.

Beall and Harvey Zeigler are members of the Damascus Heritage Society, which organized Sunday's activities as a fundraiser for the organization.

"The Historical Society is trying to build a museum to preserve the history of Damascus," Linda Olsen, chair of the organizing committee, said.

The county gave the group a long-term lease on a portable classroom that is now installed in a permanent location behind the Damascus Library, Olsen said. The organization is planning to open it as a temporary museum and is focusing fundraising efforts on getting electricity to the site.

"We're always raising funds for the museum," Olsen said.

Although Sunday's event was not well attended, Olsen and her committee were happy with their first-time Heritage Day.

"We think it was real successful. Everything ran smoothly. I think we earned in the neighborhood of $1,500," she said.